It's better out West.
Adventures from our home in Colorado Springs and our cabin in the mountains. Gardening, prepping, dog wrangling, etc. I can't promise anything here is useful but it's our way of being able to look back and see if we are working towards being more self reliant.
You just might find some nice photo's at least, so it's probably not a complete lost cause.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Out of eggs and a special treat

When you need to bake 10 loaves of bread you should make sure you have all the ingredients before you start. This goes for anything I suppose.
I set all the boxes, tubs, containers, etc. on the counter, wet on the right and dry on the left. I had 3 eggs and needed 15. I could have stopped what I was doing and hit the store but what kind of preparedness level would that be if each time I needed something I went to the store.

Those are eggs in the sifter. 1 T whole egg powder and 2 T water equals 1 egg. I actually added a little more water than it calls for, each type of egg powder will be different so you need to find out what works. They don't make the best scrambled eggs but it's good enough to eat. I use the whole egg powder from Shelf Reliance, I just happen to like their products. The added bonus of egg powder is you don't have to worry about uncooked eggs. I opened a #10 can a couple of months ago and am slowly making a dent in it. The #10 can of baking powder sitting next to it will eventually get dumped out, that's a lot of powder.

Amish friendship bread made with real eggs, minus a sample slice.

Amish friendship bread made with egg powder. They were a little lighter in color and a little 'fluffier' but otherwise tasted the same. My neighbor friend stopped by unannounced (they are used to me opening the door with a gun in my hand when they do that.... maybe I shouldn't have given them a gate key) so they were my test subjects. No one complained and one entire loaf vanished when they left. I had the sample slices only since I had to visit the gym when done cooking.

If you make quick bread, especially a sweeter type (banana, zucchini, etc.) you can give it a special twist. Grease the loaf pan and coat it with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. I use 1/4 C sugar and 2T cinnamon (saigon cinnamon is my favorite but you can use regular store brands just fine), mix in a small bowl and then coat one loaf pan. Pour the extra into the next pan, repeat until it's gone or you run out of pans to coat.

It should look like this when you are done. I went high with the grease and sugar but it's a good habit in case you have breads that rise a lot. Amish friendship bread is similar to a sourdough starter:
1 packet (or 2t) active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (to dissolve the yeast)
1 C. Sugar, Flour, Milk
This is day one. Day 2-5 let it sit (I use a zipock, make sure you check the air level so it doesn't explode).
Day 6 add 1 C. Flour, Milk, Sugar.
Day 7-9 let it sit
Day 10 cook it up with this stuff (makes 2 loaves):
1 C Oil, Milk, Sugar and starter batter
3 eggs
1 T vanilla
2 T cinnamon
1/2 t soda
1.5 t powder
2 C flour
1 package pudding powder (I use vanilla non instant)
dash of salt

Bake in greased and floured (or sugared) loaf pans @ 350 degrees for 43 minutes (my oven, yours may need an hour).
The standard recipe says to add to the starter before you cook with it but I'm special and throw caution to the wind. You can give people a cup of starter and instructions, etc. but they really just want the bread to eat. I make new starter each time, but I know how to keep it going if I decided to not start from scratch each time. I start from scratch for more of a virgin batter, that's just me. I also use metal bowls and most recipes say not to.
My way will result in 4 (ie. 8 loaves) batches. Sometimes I can get 10 depending on how active the yeast was (or if I left the bag in the sun, added a little more than 1 C. of sugar, etc.).
If you forget the pudding it's a plain tasting sweet bread.

Tonight I need to make the rest of the bread. Tomorrow I'm making a ham, turkey, pumpkin pie and apple crumb pie. Perhaps a chocolate sheet cake as well, depending on how much help I get in the kitchen. Once all that is done it's off to the in-laws.

Happy Thanksgiving. People are always thankful for stuff on this day. I'm thankful all year for everything in my life, it's been amazing and many times frightening, I'm thankful I wake up each morning.

4 comments:

teehee about having 3 eggs and needing 15 - bahahahah! thanks for sharing the recipe as well. and holy moly - you are a bread making fool!

it sounds like you are going to have a gorgeous spread tomorrow - what time should me and jam arrive?

we are celebrating American Thanksgiving today. and thinking of all of our friends. and being thankful to have them. you, of course, are right up there on the list. (crap - i have been saying that to everyone and it makes it sound not genuine. but i mean it. we have made so many good friends over the past year and you are one of them!). anyway - just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving. thanks for your friendship. enjoy your day tomorrow.

oh and honestly - Thanksgiving is just an excuse for me to make turkey and gravy. i am thankful all of the time - i try very hard to be. i think grace is seriously lacking in the world. so i always try to be thankful. but then it isn't hard - just look at all of the good stuff in my life. including friends.

Thanks for sharing the powdered egg info. I am been wanting to keep this in my pantry but was very unsure of the outcome of its end product.Love the Amish Friendship bread. I am going to start some after the madness in the kitchen, probably on Sat. I have a crock with a lid, and then place the bag in the crock and mush. Then when I get ready, I put a box of instant pudding mix in to give it an extra flavor punch.I am just thankful I have a roof over my head, a crappy one, but a roof, and food on the table from my garden and bartering. I am thankful I am able to function as I do. Many blessing be upon you and your family, thank you for the sharing and trials and errors.RegardsDenim